The present invention generally relates to the field of optical fiber cables and associated connectors suitable for the transmission of information via light, and more particularly to two conductor optical fiber cables and connectors capable of full duplex transmission of information.
Many optical transmission protocols, such as Fiber Channel, optical ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode), SONET (Synchronous Optical Network), InfiniBand, and the like require full duplex optical fiber cabling for transmission of information. Presently, optical cables capable of full duplex transmission of information utilize paired optical fibers wherein the optical fiber conductors are positioned side by side and enclosed in a common insulator. Each optical conductor of such cables typically requires a separate optical connector and must plug into a separate protocol generator/receiver connection. Consequently, in many applications, the space occupied by such optical connectors can become undesirably excessive. Further, the attachment of such optical connectors to the optical cable is often clumsy and, consequently, may fail to provide a reliable optical transfer connection.
As transmission protocols are developed which require higher transmission speeds and denser connection strategies, existing duplex cable and connector designs will become increasingly inadequate for the applications in which they are used. Consequently, it is desirable to provide an improved multiple conductor optical cable and connectors capable of full duplex transmission of information wherein each optical cable requires a single connector resulting in reduction in the amount of space occupied by such cables and their connectors. Further, it is desirable to provide a multiple conductor optical cable and associated connector capable of providing a more reliable optical transfer connection.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a concentric optical cable and connector capable of full duplex transmission of optically encoded information.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, a concentric optical cable comprises at least a core optical conductor suitable for conducting a light beam encoded with a first set of optically encoded information having at least partially concentrically disposed there about a concentric optical conductor suitable for conducting a light beam encoded with a second set of optically encoded information. In this manner, the optical cable is capable of full duplex transmission of the first and second sets of optically encoded information.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, a connector suitable for use with the concentric optical cable is capable of simultaneously functioning as both a receiver connector and a transmitter connector for receiving and transmitting light beams encoded with optically encoded information via the optical cable. The connector includes an outer connector portion suitable for connection of the concentric optical conductor of the optical cable. The outer connector portion is substantially concentrically disposed about an inner connector portion suitable for connection of the core optical conductor of the optical cable thereby providing full duplex transmission of information.
It is to be understood that both the forgoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and together with the general description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.